Committee

Six Democrats on the Senate Energy Committee sent President Bush a follow-up letter to once again urge the administration to drop its opposition to special incentives for an Alaska gas pipeline along the Alaska Highway route. In light of increasing concerns about natural gas supply, high gas prices and the impact on the economy, highlighted by the recent comments of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, the administration should reconsider its position on the Alaska pipeline, they said.

Six Democrats on the Senate Energy Committee sent President Bush a follow-up letter to once again urge the administration to drop its opposition to special incentives for an Alaska gas pipeline along the Alaska Highway route. In light of increasing concerns about natural gas supply, high gas prices and the impact on the economy, highlighted by the recent comments of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, the administration should reconsider its position on the Alaska pipeline, they said.

Susan Kennedy was quickly cleared by the Senate Rules Committee for confirmation as the new commissioner at the California Public Utilities Commission. Statewide consumer, utility and environmental groups appeared to support the appointment of the former Democratic Party and governor’s adviser. Confirmation by the full Senate is expected later this month. In part of her questioning, Kennedy said she was unhappy with the level of the so-called exit fees assigned late last year by the CPUC for direct access customers in California. At their current levels, she said it would take 10 to 20 years for bundled utility customers to get their fair share from the customers buying their own power supplies from third-party providers.

The draft energy bill reported out by the House Energy and Commerce Committee early Thursday would authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issues rules authorizing or establishing an electronic information system “to provide the Commission and the public with timely access to such information as is necessary or appropriate to facilitate price transparency and participation in natural gas markets.”

Echoing one another before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, representatives from production, pipeline and utility companies, as well the Energy Information Administration (EIA), agreed that the current high natural gas prices are a sign that the market is actually working — not broken as some suggest.

Echoing one another on Tuesday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, representatives from production, pipeline and utility companies, as well the Energy Information Administration (EIA), agreed that the current high natural gas prices are a sign that the market is actually working — not broken as some suggest.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman W.J. “Billy” Tauzin (R-LA) last week called on the Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct an expedited review of ways to raise the level of “transparency and validity” of published natural gas prices and market data, including available supply, demand, pipeline and production information, in order to restore confidence in domestic markets.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman W.J. “Billy” Tauzin (R-LA) has called on the Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct an expedited review of ways to upgrade the current method for reporting prices on natural gas trades to energy trade newsletters, and explore the accuracy and transparency of available supply, demand, pipeline and production information and prices in order to instill greater confidence in domestic gas markets.

National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners is expected to vote Wednesday to ratify a resolution approved by its gas committee and board of directors earlier in the week, calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reconsider its recent decision removing the five-year cap that limited the length of contract term that an existing shipper must match in order renew an expiring pipeline contract under the right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) process (see Daily GPI, Oct. 31).